Getting It Done Without Thinking

Two tiny habits that will quietly change your home.

We are blessed and our brains are full. Not in a dramatic way. In a quiet, background kind of way. You’re not overwhelmed because any one thing is hard. You’re overwhelmed because everything needs a tiny decision.

Where does this go?

Should I deal with this now?

Do I need this?

Can this wait?

And our brains are doing that all day long.

What saved me wasn’t a new system.

It was taking thinking out of the equation.

I didn’t get more motivated.

I got more automatic.

Two tiny habits did that for me:

• The One-Touch Rule

• Habit Stacking (beautifully explained in this article by Esti Waldman)

They sound official. They’re actually very gentle.

And together they let you get things done… without thinking.

⁠The One-Touch Rule

What it actually means, in real life: When something comes into your hand, you decide what happens to it — all the way — before you put it down.

Not later.

Not after you rest.

Not when you “have a minute.”

Right then.

Because once you put it down without deciding, your brain now has to carry it. So here’s what that looks like, very practically.

The mail example: The mail comes in. You bring it inside.

Most of us:

We put it on the counter.

Then we move it to the table.

Then we move it again.

One Touch says:

You stand there for one minute and:

• Throw out the junk mail

• Open the bill and either pay it, file it, or photograph it for later

• Sign the permission slip

• Put the check straight into your bag or wallet

Then — and only then — you put the empty envelope in recycling and walk away.

So the mail never becomes a pile.

Baby and home examples:

• You change the baby. The diaper is in your hand.

You walk it to the garbage and drop it in.

You don’t put it “near” the garbage.

• You finish the baby’s bath. The towel is wet and in your hand.

You walk it straight to the hamper and drop it in.

• You open a package. The box is empty.

You break it down and put it into recycling right then.

• You take off your shoes. They are in your hand.

You put them into the closet — not next to the closet.

Same amount of effort.

Just one tiny decision earlier.

Sometimes, it also means finishing the future of things.

This is the part no one teaches.

One Touch doesn’t just mean “put it away.”

It means: finish the responsibility attached to it while it’s already in front of you.

So:

• You finish at the dentist. You are still standing there.

You schedule the next appointment for six months from now before you leave.

Not “I’ll call later.” Later never comes.

• Your new passport arrives. It’s exciting. You open it.

Before you file it, you:

• Put a reminder in your calendar four year and four months from now: “Renew passport.”

• (Optional Between Carpools step Put a tiny label outside that says who it belongs to.)

Habit Stacking

Habit stacking is what makes this effortless.

It means attaching a tiny action to something you already do. You don’t create new habits.

You just add a micro-habit onto an existing one. Please read Etsy’s article that delves into this!

For us busy women, each task is an open loop that your brain is quietly tracking:

“Don’t forget that.”

“I still need to deal with this.”

“Ugh, that pile.”

• The One-Touch Rule closes loops.

• Habit stacking makes it automatic.

Now your brain can finally exhale.

If no one ever showed you how to do this, please hear me:

You are not behind.

You are not messy.

You are not failing.

You were not given the invisible skills.

Now you have them.

Finish the thing.

Close the loop.

Let your empty hand do the next right thing.

That’s it. That’s the whole magic.